How Jaipur Pink Panthers are benefiting from wise auction strategy to plug last season's gap

The Panthers have been in terrific form in PKL 9 and are playing for the first position.

Jaipur Pink Panthers have started Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season nine on a positive note winning nine out of the first 14 encounters. They currently occupy the third spot in the points table with 48 points. Jaipur did not start the season well losing the first encounter in a closely fought contest but fought back winning the next five successively.

The last two seasons have not been great for the inaugural champions as they missed the playoffs with a seventh and eighth-place finish respectively. The squad has seen a major revamp this season and the auction strategy has worked out in their favour.

Arjun Deshwal as usual has been in tremendous form continuing from where he left in the last season. Arjun has scored 161 raid points in the 14 matches played so far. He is second on the most raid points chart in PKL 9. He is also second in the chart for the most successful raids in the tournament (121). 

The start of the season was not good for Arjun Deshwal as he didn't look at his best. In the first game, he lacked confidence and being a primary raider did not go for the last raid which decided the fate of the match. Ajith Kumar was sent ahead of Arjun and it proved to be costly. However, after the initial mistake, everything seems to be going in Jaipur’s favour.

Rahul Chaudhari was a smart pick in the auctions with not many franchises believing in his ability and experience. The pick proved to be a good one with the "Showman" picking up crucial points when required. Rahul Chaudhari played well for Uttar Pradesh in the Senior Championships and was slowly getting back to his best. Jaipur seeing this picked him as a backup for the primary raiders.

In the senior nationals, Rahul Chaudhari helped UP win the finals scoring a Super 10 in a high-pressure situation. The “showman” is one of the most experienced raiders in PKL history. And after a few poor seasons, he is slowly getting back to scoring points.

Ajith Kumar was brought for 66 lakhs and was the most expensive player for Jaipur Pink Panthers at the auctions. Ajith has been playing the role of secondary raider to perfection and is helping Arjun Deshwal in pressure situations. Although Ajith does not have many raid points to his name, overall his performance on the mat has been excellent.

Bhavani Rajput after shifting flanks from Tamil Thalaivas has been good in the limited opportunities he has been provided. He took the team closer to a victory in the first match this season scoring a super raid in his first raid after coming in as a substitute. The performance would have given the coach high confidence in using him as a regular substitute in the absence of regular raiders.

Last season, Jaipur Pink Panthers did not have enough depth in raiding as they have in PKL season 9. Apart from Arjun Deshwal and Deepak Hooda at times, not many could score points regularly denting their performances.

Sunil Kumar has scored 43 tackle points in 14 matches played so far. Eight of those tackle points came in a single match. Sunil started the season cautiously, but after the first two matches picked up the pace. He is now third in the most tackle points chart and just eight more points away from the top.

Sunil Kumar has the experience of leading a team, having previously captained Gujarat Fortune Giants during his four seasons with them. This season he has stood tall in defence after a poor season 8 with Gujarat going by his standards.

Ankush has been the find by Jaipur who has donned the left corner position. He has scored 51 tackle points in the 14 matches. He has taken over the mantle from Sandeep Dhull. It is not an easy spot to fill but Ankush has performed his role to exception.

Jaipur Pink Panthers have done their homework well after two poor seasons and are slowly getting back on track. With eight more matches to be played, Jaipur needs to hold the momentum going forward and perform consistently.